Oh Joy! The Salon is open!
Two days in a row we both visited the salon. Only two people at a time are allowed in the salon, plus the technician. so two days a week the nail tech is there, and two other days a week the hair stylist takes customers. It works! One day we both had our nails done. Mike had a nail clip and I had a manicure plus a pedicure. And on the second day we both got a haircut. After almost four months we feel fresh and young and very happy that we will look good for Christmas and the beginning of the New Year! I imagine it must feel like getting a bath or a shower after you have not had one for almost four weeks!
Winter Solstice
I have an App called StarWalk2. It gives me a lot of information about the sky, such as that this December has had the most Meteors crossing the sky of the whole year (like falling stars, you can make many wishes if you watch them this month!). Very interesting news is that on December 21, the winter Solstice, which means that it is the shortest day and the longest night, Jupiter and Saturn would appear the closest since 1226.
I say appear, because on this day, Saturn will be about twice as far from the Earth as Jupiter. For us, observers from the Earth, it was the closest conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn most of us will ever get to witness. The two planets were only 0.1 degrees apart and would look like a single bright star. The Great Conjunction 2020 took place on December 21, at 7:40 p.m. Even after December 21, they will remain pretty close to each other and will end the year at a visual distance of about 1 degree apart. Some people think that this phenomenon in the sky was similar to the Christmas Star at Jesus’ birth. I went outside with my binoculars and finally saw it. But it was not bright at all. Mars was much bigger, and red, close to the sickle of the moon. Of course people with a telescope and those at the beach or in the desert, did see it as it was supposed to be, like this image over Lake Merritt in Northern California.
Hawai’i on my mind
Eruptions of Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island seldom make the headlines here on the mainland. I had heard recently that Kilauea had not erupted since August 2018. So to read on Hawai’i News Now that there had been a 4.4 earthquake on Sunday night following a 9:30 eruption of Halemaumau Crater and a lava lake had formed, boiling off the water lake in the Crater was Breaking News. Fountains of fire and plumes of billowing smoke as high as 165 feet into the air prompted health advisories about ash fall.
Then, too, I learned that there had been many small earthquakes in 2018, as well as a 6.2 strong one, that had created enormous fissures to form in the area of Leilani Estates that people had to traverse to get to their properties – that is, if they still existed. If you are interested, watch the Youtube clip: Pele’s Path: The Journey Home. It is about an hour’s watch, and it gives you a good impression of life of some people on the Big Island, living in the path of Pele’s wrath.
Willie K, last, but not least
William Awihilima Kahaiali’i, known as Willie K, was a Hawaiian musician who performed in a variety of styles, including blues, rock opera and Hawaiian music. Born and raised in 1960 in Lahaina, Hawai’i, he became one of the very few artists to win a Hoku award. He died at age 59 on May 18, 2020. In his memory, listen to his 2009 Christmas concert.
Willie K and the Makaha sons: A Christmas Concert
Rest me to wish you all a Christmas filled with special blessings, happy times, the warmth of friends and family and all the love of home. May all those wishes continue to be yours in the New Year.
It’s a Wonderful Life!
Until next time,
Ronny